Heavenly Holst
A 60th Anniversary That Draws Stars and Planets
Stars and planets descended on the Dekelboum Theater at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center may 18 for the final concert of the season by The Prince George’s Philharmonic. Guests, friends, classical music lovers, scientists, representatives from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center came to listen and celebrate.
The first piece of the night exploded with Haydn’s Introduction: The Representation of Chaos from The Creation. The music was a cacophony of chaos accompanying a visual sight of color and creation as the universe came into being.
The Philharmonic’s next presentation was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488. Guest Pianist Rita Sloan held the audience in rapt attention as she and the orchestra moved beautifully through the Allegro, the Adagio, and the Allegro Assai.
Prince George’s Philharmonic Musical Director Jesus Manuel Berard and his wife, Maureen McDonough Berard, after the performance. PHOTO: FRANK SOLOMON // PRINCE GEORGE’S SUITE MAGAZINE & MEDIA
The final presentation honored the 60th Anniversary of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with the presentation of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets”. Holst composed a 7-movement symphony describing the creation of the then known planets, (excluding Earth), Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Members of Goddard Space Flight Center, transformed the lobby of the Clarice into a planetary showroom with stunning photographs of space, reading materials, exhibits and 3D models of the planets. They addressed questions from the concert attendees before the show and during intermission.
Dr. John Pearl, Planetary Physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center was special guest speaker joining Maestro Jesus Manuel Berard on the stage to discuss different aspects of the planets.
This concert was raised to an even higher level with the visual presentation that accompanied the music. Produced and edited by Philharmonic Percussionist Glenn Scimonelli; the videos depicted close up studies of each planet rendering the collaboration powerful and breathtaking. Joining the Philharmonic as the Planet Neptune was introduced on screen, were the beautiful voices of the Visual and Performing Arts Choirs from Northwestern and Suitland High Schools. They added a mystical, ethereal sound to the final presentation.
“I truly enjoyed this wonderful event. It was very unique; a combination of a classical concert and a journey through the universe,” said one audience member as she was leaving the theater.
Indeed, not only was the audience given another stellar performance by Prince George’s Philharmonic, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center took us back to school. And what an amazing class it was.
